Keys
by NoOneWouldListen
Summary: Holding the keys of Nottingham, Guy reflects on the price he had to pay for them. And he can't help wondering if they were really worth it. Two one-shots.
1. Pieces of bronze

**Title:** Keys

**Summary:** Holding the keys of Nottingham, Guy reflects on the price he had to pay for them.

**A/N:** these are two one-shots, the second set immediately after the first that explore Guy's feelings when, after having 'dealt' with Isabella and Hood, he is finally made Sheriff of Nottingham. There is therefore no real link between the two chapters, apart from their subject.

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><p>Staring own at the precious objects the would-be monarch had negligently put in his hands, Guy couldn't help wondering if they were worth it. These were the symbol of his rise, the first stone that would settle his new-found power. Three years ago, he would never have asked for more, and would never have questioned the price asked to obtain such valuable pieces of bronze.<p>

But this was three years – ages – ago. So many things had happened since to make him now look down to this trophy with ill-concealed bitterness.

Marian. First and foremost. She had believed in him, somehow, when no one would have dared believe he even had a soul. And by doing so, she had awakened a decade of suppressed feelings, emotions he barely thought he could even sense. She had taught him to expect higher, to aim at more than the senseless pursuit of power. She had made him remember the difference honour made in any achievement. She had made him a better man. And that man did not relish power the way the old one used to.

Then, there was Vaisey. His master, his mentor, his tormentor, his father of sorts. Who now laid dead by his son's hand. _Et tu Brute?_

Isabella. His own sister. His baby sister. He still didn't quite believe he had just killed her, after all the trouble he had gone through too make sure she was safe and well. He felt nauseated. Little Iz had betrayed him. Little Iz was dead. He had killed her. Sold her life once again for pieces of bronze.

Now he was alone, utterly and completely alone. One by one, he had destroyed every single person that could have cared about him. Even Hood was dead.

All of this for a set of keys. Blood added to more blood, staining his hands and his soul of thin red lines, contaminating him. All for this. Was it worth it? Were those heavy warrants of his authority worth the blood of his sister? Of his father-figure? Of the love of his life? Were they worth betraying the last untainted virtues he had: his loyalty to his family, to Vaisey, his love for Marian? Weighting the heavy token of his glorious future, Guy wasn't sure of this anymore.


	2. Alone

He tried to process the news as he drank. He was the Sheriff of Nottingham. At last. At _long_ last.

And he was alone.

This time, he had no one. Absolutely no one. No friend, no wife, no family. No one.

He felt like the last survivor of a time forever ended. The time when Vaisey ruled. He had had a sister in that time. Far away, never giving any news, but alive and at the time he had assumed she was well. And Marian. She had never been his, but she had been with him. She had been his only comfort when all of Vaisey's promises couldn't cleanse his mouth of its taste of blood. When she had gone, he thought he couldn't possibly live with himself. But Vaisey had roused him, insulting and humiliating him until he had finally got a response. And that way he had got on with his life. And when survival had meant getting rid of his master of ten years, he had got rid of him. Without a second-thought, but not without a backward glance. In a way he owed him. And he had betrayed him.

_Forget about the past, focus on the future._ He was the Sheriff now. Finally, he had all the power he had ever dreamt of. _All_ he had ever dreamt of. Only it didn't feel as it should, to see his dream come true.

When he had thought about this time, he has expected to feel full, complete, as his life would be: power, money, security. All he had ever craved for, finally at his reach. But all he felt was emptiness. Want. Want of everything he had sacrificed to his ambition. Family, friends, esteem, respect, care. There wasn't anyone left who would be willing to provide any of these. All of those who had cared if he lived or died were dead. Isabella, Vaisey… Marian. Even Hood. To everyone now he was merely Sir Guy of Gisborne, Sheriff of Nottingham. Barely more than a name for most. He wouldn't be just 'Guy' to anyone. He had just killed the last person on earth who could have remembered him that way.

(Hey, did you see that little review button? Care to click on it and let me know what you think of this? :))


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